Tag-line reel



May 19, 1942. n.0. BILLINGS TAGLINE REEL Filed Jan. 21, 1941- PatentedMay 19, 1942 UNJTE D. STAT lgif}11,\1`"1 Y Y r ,2,283,784

. TAG-LINE. REEL Roy o. 'Bini/nge, Milwakee, wis. d Aepeatiqa .targuer/y21, 19471,'seria1Na. 375,211 d sclaimls. (0141441.46)

This invention relates toI improvements in tagline reels. J

In the use of cranesifor the raising or lowering of buckets, magnets orthe like, 4the'lai'terfhave a tendency torotate or swing. Thisresult'sin a twisting., f the Qpgretiheqcablea whereby proper operationof the device is hindered.

lines for preventing such swinging'l action ot vthe buckets ormagnetsvcarried bythe crane. A

common arrangement was the use of a counter"-k weight attached totheinner end of the tagline in an endeavor to maintaina proper tension onthetagline. It has been found, however;V that aV cable and sheaves. Ithas also been proposed to d utilize a tensioned reelA on which the cableis wound. While this type of device will function properly withrelatively small buckets or like objects, when aj large bucket or thelike is employed it is impossible, without the use of a verylargejexpensive spring, to apply suicient tension to prevent undesiredswinging of the bucket.

With the above in mind it is a general object of the present inventionto provide a tagline con.- trol of the tensioned reel type wherein arelatively small spring of a practical size may be employed, togetherwith means cooperating therewith for automatically maintaining a propertension regardless ofl the size ofthe bucket or device depended from thecrane boom.

A more specic object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described wherein` means are provided for automaticallyapplying greater resistance than that exerted by a tension spring whilea tagline is being paid out, and for automatically relieving thisadditional resistance when the tagline is being retrieved, therebyeliminating any interference whatsoever with the operation of a coiledspring in rorating the tagline reel'in a retrieving direction.

A further object of the invention isV to provide an improved taglinereel construction which utilizes a minimum number of parts and which maybe arranged in a very compact assembly.

A further object of the invention is tor pro-y vide a tagline reelconstruction of the character described having a brake for resisting orplacing a drag on the rotating reel shaft, together with manuallyadjustable means for varying the pres-v sure or drag of the`V brake. y

` A' further weer of the. were is to pre vide a brake equipped taglinereelin. which the directinofi'ctation 'ofthe reel' and shaftf'iseffective to 4cause automatic 'application andlref lease'f the brakef`A"`fu`rther object of. the invention isj to profvide a tagline reelutilizing'a relativelyflarg bearing and a lrniniinun-1, numbero'fj"sheavesV With the'above'I-and'otherlobjects'in view, the inventionVconsists of. 'the` irnproved tagline reelv and its, parts andc`o'nibiriationsY asf'set forthin' the iaimsand 'au equivalents'thereof.

yIn the accompanying 'd'ralwing"in whichl the same 'reference fharactefsindicate' the same parts lall ofthe views' V4Fig. `1V is'a:side the improvedftagline reel. mechanism;`

Fig.'2`.is "a transverse sectional view taken on line 2 2. of Fig.Landon a larger scal`e;'

Fig. l3"is an end viewof the 'tagline' reel'and associated'"niecha'nismjV `Fi'g'. `4"is atransv'er'se sectional view taken on line'-Vl'fFig `1.; and Y" Fig. 5V is a fragmentary'viewofa crane boom and.suspended bucket. with vthefcalciles 'andftagline re'elfdevic'e attachedthereto', s'aidview being.

on ya smaller scale."

lReferring now more particularly to the drawing itvwill appear that theinventionis shown as being applied to the boom 8o'f a; 'crane havingabucket!! is Yadjustabl'y and movably suspended' from the outerend ofthe bloom '8; in'a manner to eiect raisingrhv and lowering movement oflAthev bucket, by an operatingv cable I0 attached to the bucket andpassing over a 'sheave' Il at] the outer end ofthe boom.

e een@ lessenaar for, thi-purpose of invention is to provide venting thebucket from swinging or turning during operation thereof. One end of thetagline I2 is attached to a lug on the bucket while the other endportion of the tagline passes between guide pulleys I3 carried by abracket plate I5. It will be observed that a reel I6 is mounted adjacentthe guide pulleys I3. The other end of the tagline I2 is made fast to aportion of the reel I6, in any suitable manner, and turning movements ofthe reel are adapted to wind or unwind the tagline relative to thegrooved periphery of the reel.

The reel I6 is mounted fast on one end portion of a revoluble shaft I1and this shaft is journalled in suitable bearings I8 and I9. Both of thebearings I8 and I9 project from opposite end portions of a channel ironsupporting member 20. The bearing I8 has a depending portion I8 whichfloats between spaced portions 36 and 31 and is pivotal on a pin 38.With this arrangement, when there is strain on the shaft I1 due tospring tension, the bearing I8 may pivot slightly to cause automaticalinement. The bearing I9, furthermore, is fast with a plate 2|, whichplate extends adjacent the inner face of the reel I6 and carries thepulley supporting plate I by means of arms 22. 'I'he channel ironsupporting member which carries the reel and associated mechanism ismounted on an intermediate or lower portion of a crane boom 8 in theposition shown in Fig. 5. The mounting is accomplished .in anyconvenient manner as by the use of U-bolts which embrace portions of themember 20 and engage transverse struts on the boom.

A coiled spring 23 surrounds the reel shaft I1. One end of the coiledspring is anchored to a lug 24 on a side portion of the bearing I9. Theother end of the coiled spring is made fast to a lug 25 on the oppositeside of the shaft I1. It will be obvious from the description thus farthat as the tagline I2 is paid out and unwoundfrom the reel I6, the reeland shaft I1 will turn in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2and due to the anchorage of the opposite ends of the spring 23 the samewill be wound up and put under tension. The spring 23, when undertension, normally urges winding of the tagline on the reel and iseffective in maintaining tautness in the tagline. However, thisarrangement of itself is not suicient under all conditions to preventswinging and twisting of the bucket 9. In the present invention thetensioning effect of the spring is augmented by a novel friction brakemechanism adapted to operate on the reel shaft With particular referenceto Figs. l and 2 it will be observed that there is mounted fast on theend of the shaft I1 opposite the reel I6, a brake drum 26. This brakedrum is surrounded by a strip of flexible brake band 21, formed of anymaterial suitable for the purpose. The brake band 21 is interposedbetween peripheries of the drum 26 and a substantially O-shaped brakeshoe 28. One end of the brake shoe 28 is fixed to av projection 29 onthe supporting channel member 20. The other end portion of the brakeshoe 28 is flanged outwardly as at 30 and is apertured to receive theshank of an adjusting bolt 3|. The upper portion of the shank of thebolt 3| carries a coiled spring 32 which is confined between'the brakeshoe flange 3U and an upper washer 33. The upper end portion of the bolt3| has threaded thereon nuts 34 which, whengturned downwardly, furthercompress thespring 32 and cause the same to exert additional pressure onthe flange of the brake shoe, whereby the brake shoe 28 exerts more of adrag or pressure on the brake band 21. The lower end of the bolt 3| isanchored in a :flange 35 also supported on the channel iron member 20.

In the operation of the improved tagline reel, when the bucket 9 orother device is lowered, the tagline I2 will pay out and the reel I6 andshaft I1 will turn in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1and 2. This action will cause the coiled spring 23 on the shaft I1 towind up as was heretofore mentioned. This turning movement of the shaftI1 is in a direction to cause the brake band 21 and the brake shoe 28 tocompress or bind against the drum 26 and the spring 32 on the bolt 3| isof sufficient strength to exert pressure against the flanged end 30 ofthe shoe 28 to additionally compress the brake'shoe and brake bandagainst the brake drum. The braking mechanism, therefore, exerts a verydecided drag on the shaft I1 in addition to the tension exerted by theshaft spring 23. 'Ihe action of the brake in acting on the shaft isautomatic and is occasioned by the direction of rotation of the shaft,it being obvious that when the shaft is being turned in a direction topay out the tagline, the drag or braking effect on the shaft will beimposed and this will absolutely prevent slack in the main extent of thetagline and 'will hold the bucket or other mechanism 8 against swaying,swinging, and twisting.

When the cable I0 is operated to raise the bucket 9 the tagline I2 willfeed in and wind on the reel VI6 which is automatically turned in theproper winding direction by operation of the shaft 4of the reel. It mayalso be stated that the expansive or unwrapping force of the brake shoe28 is greater, under the latter conditions, than the tension exerted bythe spring 32. Also, the

` condition of the spring 32 may at any time be 50' adjusted bytightening or loosening the nuts 34. From the foregoing description itwill appear that the improved tagline reel mechanism is such that thetagline, when being paid out, is under constant restraint and tautnessto an extent which will prevent the bucket from undesirably swinging ortwisting. The braking arrangement materially augments the shaft spring23 and is automatic in its operation by placing a desired braking effectand restraint on the shaft in one direction of movement of the shaft,and by releasing said restraint or braking action during the otherdirection of movement of the shaft. The device is furthermore of simpleand novel construction, utilizes a minimum number of parts and is welladapted for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A tagline reel assembly, comprising an elongated rigid supportingmember, bearings at opposite ends of said supporting member, a revolubleshaft having opposite end portions journalled in said bearings, atension spring coiled about an intermediate portion of the shaft, meanssecuring one end of said spring to one of said bearings, means securingthe other end of said spring to a remote portion of the shaft, a taglinereel fast on the shaft adjacent said bearing, a hanger rigidly fixed tosaid bearing and to said supporting member, tagline guide membersmounted on said hanger, a friction brake mounted on another portion ofthe shaft, and means adjustably anchoring portions of said brakedirectly to said rigid supporting member.

2. In a crane structure, a boom, a material handling bucket or the likemovablysuspended from said boom, a supporting member connected to saidcrane structure, a shaft journaled in said supporting member, a reelrigidly carried by said shaft, a tagline having its inner end connectedto said reel and having its outer end connected to the bucket or thelike to restrain swinging movement of the latter, tension spring meanscoiled about said shaft and cooperable therewith to normally urgewinding of the tagline on the reel, and friction brake means cooperablewith said shaft, including a band operable automatically in response torotation of the shaft in a direction to pay out the tagline to imposefriction which supplements the resistance of the spring, and said bandbeing automatically releasable in response to rotation of the shaft in areverse direction.

3. In a crane structure in combination, a boom, a material handlingbucket or the like movably suspended from said boom, a supporting memberconnected to said crane structure, a reel rotatably mounted on saidsupporting member, a tagline having its inner end connected to said reeland having its outer end connected to the bucket or the like to restrainswinging movement of the latter, tension spring means cooperable withthe reel to normally urge winding of the tagline thereon, and frictionbrake means cooperable with the reel and including a band operableautomatically in response to rotation of the reel in a direction to payout the tagline to impose friction which supplements the resistance ofthe spring, and said band being automatically releasable in response torotation of the reel in a reverse direction.

4. In a reel construction for use with a tagline attached to a materialhandling bucket or the like, a support, spaced bearings carried by saidsupport, a shaft journaled in said bearings, a tagline reel rotatablewith said shaft, and a spring coiled about said shaft and operativelyconnected with the shaft and supportso as to be wound up when the shaftand reel are rotated in a direction to pay out the tagline, one of saidshaft bearings being supported for pivotal movement about an axis whichextends at right angles to the axis of the reel shaft whereby thebearing will maintain automatic alinement 0f the shaft when the latteris subjected to strains caused by spring tension.

5. A tagline reel assembly comprising, elongated rigid supportingmember, bearings at lopposite ends of said supporting member, arevoluble shaft extending above and in the same direction as saidsupporting member and having opposite end portions journaled in saidbearings, a tagline reel fast on one end portion of said shaft, afriction brake mounted on another portion of said shaft, and meansadjustably anchoring portions of said brake directly to the rigidsupporting member.

ROY O. BILLINGS.

